It is well-known that there exist in the electro-mechanical and related electronic arts a wide variety of control interfaces, sometimes termed surfaces, control panels, and the like, which employ a wide variety of elements such as electronic displays, touchscreens, trackballs and other pointer devices, knobs, smart switches, sliders, monitoring elements, keyboards and the like. It is also well-known in the art that such control surfaces are typically closely allied with a particular apparatus.
As an example of a control surface, a keyboard and a mouse, or other pointing device, along with a video display, comprise a typical control unit for a personal computer. It does not matter that the display, keyboard and pointer may be discrete devices, they may be considered as a whole an I/O interface for a computer, and indeed may be implemented in a single control surface or panel.
As another example, virtually every electronic appliance, such as a DVD player as an isolated example, will have a front panel with rotary inputs (knobs), pushbutton switches, one or more LCD displays, and the like, for a user to initiate and track functions of the player.
Although there are very simple devices commercially available, such as switch panels with preassembled switches in an electrical box, which may be adapted turn motors on and off, for example, it is not known in the art to adapt a generic control surface to a really broad variety of appliances, applications and equipment, such as, for example, Digital Audio Workstation software, other sorts of software, editing software and/or hardware, audio equipment, machinery and vehicles.
What is clearly needed, therefore, is a largely generic control surface that may be adapted to a broad variety of both hardware and software, and may do so in unique ways, providing efficient and cost-effective solutions for both suppliers and users. The inventions taught in enabling detail below in several embodiments provide just such adaptable control surfaces.